Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman wants to tell the story of the massive search for the allegedly mentally disturbed, double-murder suspect Aaron Bassler, 35--arguably one of the county's most memorable manhunts?and has done so in his and author Stephen Sparks' book "Out There in the Woods."

"It gives you chills," Allman said, looking at the cover of the book, a photo of Bassler holding his A.K. assault rifle, his finger on the trigger, as he stands at the window of an empty cabin in the woods east of Fort Bragg. The photo was downloaded from a security camera and was later released Sept. 26, 2011, just days before Bassler was shot and killed by a three-man Sacramento SWAT team with the same rifle in his hand.

Allman and Sparks held two book signings in Fort Bragg and Ukiah for the book, which chronicles day-by-day the 36-day hunt for Bassler in a roughly 400-square-mile swathe of the forest and coastline surrounding and east of Fort Bragg. More than a dozen law enforcement agencies also joined the search, including the U.S. Marshal's Service, trained to search out fugitives.

"It would be a mistake to tell you that law enforcement didn't learn from this," Allman said of the search, adding that the U.S. Marshal's Service said "they had never been on such a rugged search that lasted such a long time."

Bassler's advantage was that of an experienced woodsman who grew up in the area, and had been known to hide out for days at a time in the forest, according to his family. While the searchers had the combined advantages of numbers and training, they also knew toward the end that Bassler had no qualms about firing on them.

The book tells the story from the perspective of law enforcement, and also summarizes Bassler's brushes with the law in the years following his high school graduation. An entire chapter was written by Jim Bassler, Aaron's father, who tells of his troubles getting his son the mental health help he needed.

The book's release comes at a time when the nation's attention is focused on gun control, a concept Allman says is only half of the picture.

"I wish it wasn't as timely as it is right now, with the Connecticut shootings," Allman said. "We have to, as a society, continue a conversation about mental health."

Mental health services are woefully understaffed in Mendocino County, Allman says?a comment he doesn't mean as an insult to the county department or its staff, just as a statement of fact.

Among the things he'd like to see accomplished are the hiring of more mental health crisis workers and a possible change in national HIPAA law allowing law enforcement to communicate with the family members of mentally ill inmates.

Between 15 and 20 percent of the county jail's inmates are mental health patients, according to Allman. Giving an example, Allman said if a family member communicates a concern that the inmate isn't taking medication for his or her condition, jail staff can find the answer to the question but, under federal law, can't communicate it to the concerned family member.

"Jim Bassler says it was so frustrating to have conversations and to write letters, and not be told anything," Allman said.

To that end, he's been in discussion with Congressman Mike Thompson, whose district formerly included Mendocino County, about the intent of HIPAA and any changes that might be needed.

"I'm not saying that government is the answer to all our problems, because it's not true," Allman said, "but there is barely the safety net" needed in a mental health crisis situation.

Encouraging to him is the fact that the county released a request for proposals in an effort to privatize its mental health services, and ongoing efforts to develop a local mental health court, which could order that a defendant take the required medication, and make it a condition of the defendant's probation.

At least once a day, Allman said, his deputies answer a call about a person who is causing a disturbance, and arrive to find the suspect is a mental health patient off his or her medication.

"If they're not breaking the law, we can't take them in," Allman said.

And while that's certainly an issue Allman wants to see lawmakers address, that wasn't the reason he and Sparks decided to write the book.

It started, he said, as a three-series article and grew.

"Because Aaron Bassler was killed at the end of the story, I have somewhat of an obligation to relate the story to people," Allman said. "If he had been arrested, he would have gone to court and you would have heard everything in the book."

People always ask him why the search took 36 days, and why it cost $260,000, he said.

"I hope the book answers those questions," Allman said.

He also gave kudos to Capt. Kurt Smallcomb, who oversaw planning for the search. "He is the reason this case was able to come to a resolution," Allman said.

"We didn't spend a lot of time thinking about, what if someone on the other end of the radio says, target down,'" Allman said. "That was how it ended: Target down.'"

The book is available at local bookstores, and was recently corrected. In the first paragraph of page 80 in the first run of the book, an incorrect name of a family member is given.

Book signings are scheduled in Willits at the Book Juggler Feb. 1 from 6 to 8 p.m.; in Mendocino at Gallery books Feb. 9 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. and in Boonville at Laughing Dog books at Lauren's Restaurant Feb. 16 from 4 to 6 p.m.